The bellowing on Capitol Hill about which side has offered more “specifics” to resolve the fiscal cliff showdown masks a larger problem for Washington: The two sides are still hundreds of billions of dollars apart on revenue and entitlement cuts.

Not to mention, Republicans and Democrats are also light-years apart on policy details that back up those budget targets.

W.H. to Boehner: Want specifics too

The reality is the two sides are swapping proposals that do little but reaffirm the positions they’ve long held. And despite hopes for progress, the two sides seem to be diverging further, according to people involved in and familiar with the talks.

On Monday, the White House made an offer to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) calling for $1.4 trillion in new tax revenue — a small downtick from their original position of $1.6 trillion. Proposed cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, sources said, stayed stuck around $600 billion. Democrats say Republicans must come to grip with tax-rate increases, and it will be smooth sailing from there.

As part of its offer, the White House committed to moving forward next year on corporate tax reform, according to a Democrat familiar with the talks.

The move on corporate tax rates — which came out as the influential Business Roundtable backed Obama on higher individual taxes on the wealthiest Americans — was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

On Tuesday, Boehner then countered with his own offer — $800 billion in tax revenue, more than $1 trillion in spending cuts, according to sources.

“We’ve always said you need to do both, given the way they interact,” said Michael Steel. “The issue is the individual rates because of the small business jobs impact.”

Republicans are also still opposed to hiking the U.S. debt limit — or giving the president authority to do so on his own — in this package unless they get something drastic like dollar-for-dollar entitlement cuts to tax increases.

White House officials said that Obama and Boehner spoke on the phone on Tuesday, their third conversation in the past week.

Boehner’s new offer, coming only hours after he went to the House floor to bash Obama, was described by aides as a reaffirmation of the Republican position that doesn’t break dramatic new ground.

“We sent the White House a counteroffer that would achieve tax and entitlement reform to solve our looming debt crisis and create more American jobs,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said. “As the speaker said today, we’re still waiting for the White House to identify what spending cuts the president is willing to make as part of the ‘balanced approach’ he promised the American people. The longer the White House slow-walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff.”

The huge ideological and policy gap between Obama and Boehner explains why, in recent days, the White House and House Republicans have shown they’re unlikely to budge off their respective barricades unless the prize is very rich.

The White House and GOP leaders are accusing each other of being unreasonable and willing to go over the cliff in order to score a political victory.

House Republicans don’t have a backup plan and have no immediate plans to bring legislation to the floor to make a political point, sources said.

Readers' Comments (21)

So if we give Obama his tax hike on the rich we have 8 Days of Deficit spending covered ... what do we do with the remaining 357 days of the year? Where do we find the Millionaires that are willing to pay around 50% income taxes (including state and SS). UK had to reduce its rates from 50% back to 45% just few days ago ... the Millionaies where gone ... less tax income than before with their tax hike for Millionaires ...

I'll say it again. Local governments have Sunshine Laws. Two politicians can't have a cup of coffee at the same table or there are complaints of collusion. ALL discussions have to be held in open meetings.

The president ran and was re=elected on tax on the 2% the question is why is the replublican willing to go to their political grave to protect the wealthy? do you really think taking programs thats needed by a lot of folks and the majority of then are white folks after the gop playing games with people lives in the past four years trying to defeat the president is fair.

Americans see it...Start with the simple...Pass the Senate Plan keeping tax breaks for 98% of working Americans...The failure of The House to do this? The Party of the "Don't let the Rich suffer!" will find out..

and all the phoney evangelical "Christians"? Almost all of the Gospels reject the fiscal objectives of the Republican Party...yet you cling to the but... "abortion"" marriage equality" ..neither are addressed in the Gospels... and it is the Gospels that make us Christians...

So even as Republicans try and pass a bill allowing a camel to pass through the eye of a needle? It will not happen....

The president ran and was re=elected on tax on the 2% the question is why is the replublican willing to go to their political grave to protect the wealthy?

You are very naieve if you really think the president isn't trying to protect the wealthy - he knows raising rates which is what he is insisting on is going to do nothing to the really wealthy.

The same revenue can be gotten from a cap on deductions that has been propossed by the republicans and that would impact the really wealthy -

more than 80 percent of the tax savings from itemized deductions in 2011 went to those in the top quintile and more than a quarter to the top 1 percent. Paring back those deductions would hit high-income taxpayers hardest.

Limiting deductions to $17,000 would increase revenues by nearly $1.7 trillion over ten years. A $25,000 cap would yield roughly $1.3 trillion and a $50,000 cap would raise only about $760 billion

til I looked at the draft ov $7328, I accept that my best friend was like they say actualy receiving money part-time on their computer.. there aunts neighbour haz done this for only nineteen months and just repayed the dept on there villa and got a new Volkswagen Golf GTI. go to, cloud68 .c om

Obama got offered 800 billion in revenue to help the deficit, and just like the recs of HIS deficit commission he rejected them.

Obama likes Tax Hikes, as much as the french socialist President does. 80 billion a year, that's it and zippo spending cuts. The President has presided over a trillion plus deficit for 4 years and now going into another one. At some point in the USA going the way of Detroit somebody has to say STOP.